


Signs That Speak a Thousand Words

by Lady Mephistopheles (Neko_wa)



Category: Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, British Sign Language, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mentor/Protégé, Mute Eggsy, No Angst, Romance, Sign Language, actual tailor!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 15:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5546066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neko_wa/pseuds/Lady%20Mephistopheles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eggsy Unwin was one of the best employees at Kingsman tailors and yet he was the most unusual of all of them. (...) Eggsy Unwin was born mute.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Signs That Speak a Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Read My Signs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5542286) by [Li Prouvaire (LiProuvaire)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiProuvaire/pseuds/Li%20Prouvaire). 



> A big squishy hugs for [hartwinorlose](http://hartwinorlose.tumblr.com) (aka [mitslits](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mitslits)) for beta reading and [Li Prouvaire](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MadameMarion/pseuds/Li%20Prouvaire) for his fanfic Read My Signs (go and check it!) and for planting the idea in my head. I love you!
> 
> Hope you like it.

Eggsy Unwin was one of the best employees at Kingsman tailors and yet he was the most unusual of all of them. He was the most scrupulous, his sketches were always the best and his suits were always the most praised ones. And there was a reason for that. Eggsy Unwin was born mute due to some vocal cords damage. His mother was terrified of that fact to the point that she had the worst postpartum depression the hospital had seen in years. And there was one doctor who was clever enough that he arranged a meeting with a psychologist who understood Michelle like no other specialist. It was he who organised sign language lessons for her. To honour him, the newborn baby was named Gary.

Eggsy’s dutifulness was partially caused by his disability and partially because Kingsman was the only tailor shop in London that was willing to hire a mute man. And there was one more reason. One of the older tailors, and the owner of the shop, Harry, knew how to sign. Harry, before he became a tailor, had gotten a degree in medicine at Oxford and joined RAMC. As a soldier and a doctor he had faced many challenges, and learning BSL was one of them. Who could have predicted that particular skill was going to be important in the future?

That was how Eggsy Unwin, 24, became his protégé.

* * *

 

 _How are you today?_ signed Harry when he entered the room and stood in front of his protégé a few minutes past 8 in the morning. Technically, the shop opened at 9 A.M., but he had known the man long enough to realise that Eggsy liked to be there early and finish the work he hadn’t managed to finish the day before. And Harry knew Eggsy’s best ideas came when he was surrounded by complete silence.

 _Good, thank you, Harry_ , answered Eggsy, putting the scissors aside. _Tea? I’ve just made a fresh pot_.

 _That would be lovely, thank you_.

Eggsy poured tea into the two mugs while Harry folded the fabrics and put them aside.  It was time for them and them alone; no one ever interrupted it.

 _What are you making today?_ signed Harry when Eggsy put their mugs on the table.

 _Finishing the order for the Hesketh family, nothing special_.

They carried on their little conversation for a while longer until Harry had to go down and actually open the shop. They didn’t see each other again until another employee, Merlin, came and took his usual place behind the counter so Harry could go upstairs and take his lunch break with Eggsy. Then he came downstairs once more for appointments with clients. As usual, he saw Eggsy once more, in the evening, when they were closing the shop together.

When Eggsy was still learning how to be a tailor, Harry would use their lunch break to go to the Victoria & Albert Museum to see some exhibitions Harry thought could help Eggsy in his studies. That way they had seen every single one that was connected to their area of work. Eggsy was very talkative during their time together, if one could say that. He told Harry about his life, about his father who couldn’t accept his only child was disabled, the father who left his family when Eggsy could barely walk.

Eggsy seemed to lighten up when he was talking about his little half-sister. She was a cute little thing who had just started nursery school in their neighbourhood. She was sort of bilingual; Michelle was teaching her how to sign since she was old enough to speak so Eggsy was never left behind in their life. Harry could sense that Eggsy cared for them a great deal. And when he asked about it, Eggsy answered that, to him, they were the most precious things on Earth.

* * *

 

Time passed and something was changing between Harry and Eggsy. At first they started spending more and more time with each other, never willing to end their conversations. Then there were touches: at first very simple, meaning _I’m here, I want you to know that_ , but they also became longer, more lingering, even if it was simply brushing off some fabric leftovers. They held a special meaning that was yet unknown to them. Even if they knew it was there.

And one day they just snapped. It was in the evening, when they were cleaning. The air seemed to be unusually tense. Harry tried to reach something that was near Eggsy and didn’t want to interrupt the boy to ask him to pass it. He stood behind him to grab the thing when Eggsy felt his presence and turned to face him. Their gazes were locked together. They seemed to ask one question over and over again. _Is this all right? I want it. Do you?_ When the questions were answered, they finally kissed each other. At first, briefly, just a peck to the lips. Then longer and deeper, breaking only when they needed to catch their breaths.

After a few minutes (or was it hours?) Eggsy took a small step back and signed those words. Words he didn’t even know he wanted to sign to anyone until that day. He did it slowly so Harry wouldn’t miss it.

_I._

Well, that part was easy. Everyone would know the meaning.

_Love._

Eggsy took one deep but shaky breath.

_You._

Eggsy was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t notice when Harry moved to hug him tight. After a moment, Harry broke the hug.

 _I love you too,_ he signed. _Please, let me take care of you, my dear boy._ Eggsy agreed in the only way he could think of. With a kiss.

* * *

 

And he did, in fact, let Harry do it. Two years after they got together, Eggsy accepted Harry’s proposal.

They got married a year after that, in the summer. The ceremony was fully performed in British Sign Language with Merlin and his wife, Roxy, as witnesses.

Their married life was full of meaningful looks, touches, gazes and signs. Sound was unnecessary in their life. Their hands were their voices right from the moment they met, there was nothing more important than that. Even their puppies, a Yorkshire terrier and a pug, gifts from Merlin and Roxy, were trained to respond to gestures, not the sound of voice.

It wasn’t that kind of movie, but one could say that they lived happily ever after.


End file.
